Anti-capitalist populists like to tell people what they want to hear rather than the truth. <\/p>\n
So many of them were quite upset at commentator Ben Shapiro\u2019s recent contention that New Yorkers who struggle with affordability<\/a> should move.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a young person and you can\u2019t afford to live here, then maybe you should not live here,\u201d Shapiro reasonably told the hosts of the Triggernometry podcast. <\/p>\n \u201cI mean, that is a real thing. I know we live in a society that says you deserve to live where you grew up, but the reality is that the history of America is almost literally the opposite of that.\u201d<\/p>\n The post-liberal \u201cheritage American\u201d faction on social media immediately piled on.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we want Democrats to have a super majority, then this is the message for the GOP to adopt,\u201d Mike Cernovich wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cTell people they need to move. Don\u2019t form family bonds,\u201d he continued. \u201cWorship the banks and big corporations. My goodness!\u201d<\/p>\n If there\u2019s a better way to \u201cworship\u201d a bank than borrowing $800,000 on a 30-year mortgage at 6.5% for a 900-square-foot home in Park Slope<\/a>, I have yet to hear of it.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Shapiro\u2019s advice is not only sound, it\u2019s a longtime American practice.<\/p>\n Migration is an American institution. Most of our ancestors fled from elsewhere, and when they got here, they continued to move. <\/p>\n California\u2019s population exploded after World War II<\/a>, when millions flooded the state.<\/p>\n Over the past few decades, Americans have been moving south: Florida and Texas have been overrun with newcomers over the past 50 years. <\/p>\n Every generation transforms the country. Shapiro, not incidentally, moved from California to Florida.<\/p>\n In 1950, Detroit was a booming industrial city with 1.8 million residents, while Phoenix had 106,000 residents. <\/p>\n Today, 640,000 people live in Detroit and 1.6 million in Phoenix. <\/p>\n In 1950, Houston was the 14th-largest city in the country, neck and neck with Buffalo, New York. <\/p>\n Today, Houston is the fourth-largest metro area in the United States, while Buffalo ranks 81st. <\/p>\n You think moving is a new thing?<\/p>\n Despite popular perceptions, we\u2019re moving less than our parents did. <\/p>\n In 1970, around 20% of people moved from their homes each year, with 3.4% moving out of state. <\/p>\n Now, 7.7% of people a year move, with 1.7% moving out of state.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n And families aren\u2019t worse off than they were in the costly, poorly run or dying areas. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not an accident that areas with the most new construction are in North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Tennessee and Florida. <\/p>\n There\u2019s not a single Northeastern metro area in the top 20 in new construction \u2014 and outside Columbus, Ohio, there isn\u2019t one in the Rust Belt. <\/p>\n Convincing people to stay in stagnant areas with limited economic opportunities or crushing costs only inhibits couples from forming larger families. <\/p>\n Dependency, often the other choice, is a way to destroy families, not build them.<\/p>\n There are, of course, a host of policies that drive housing prices up<\/a> across the nation. <\/p>\n Rezone, deregulate, get rid of tariffs on lumber and steel, and build more homes<\/a>. <\/p>\n Pass school-choice laws so public schools don\u2019t artificially inflate the price of homes in good districts.<\/p>\n